Monday, October 10, 2016

PSA: Don't let this happen to your Playstation VR!

Are you one of the lucky people who will be getting a Playstation VR on launch day October 13? Before you get too excited, your VR brethren with the HTC Vive just wanted to warn you not to let these things happen to your beloved PSVR.

When you try the Playstation VR, especially if it's your first VR system, it can be so amazing that you might momentarily forget about reality. Rest assured the laws of physics aren't suspended when you're in VR!

1. TRIPPING OVER YOUR HEADSET CABLE
As long as your headset is tethered, like that of the PSVR, you'll run into this issue once in a while. Most of the time, people are somewhat aware of the headset cable. But occasionally, you can get sucked into the action and it can get so frantic that you accidentally step on or trip over the headset cable.

Confession: I've stepped on my headset cable a couple of times -- in the same session -- while playing Sword Master VR for the HTC Vive.

2. LEANING ON VIRTUAL OBJECTS
In VR, you'll be surrounded by many objects. Even though they are usually not photorealistic, they look as if they truly solid. You step to the side, and you'll see the side of the object. Crouch down, and you'll see the below object. Stand on your tiptoes, and you'll see the top of the object. It looks like it truly exists. This is the magic of VR. It's so realistic that people who experience VR for the first time can forget that these objects don't really exist, and they've been known to place their controllers on top of a virtual table, dropping it. Or they might try to sit on a virtual sofa, with painful results.

3. SMASHING YOUR TV
This one happens with some regularity when using motion controllers, such as those on the Nintendo Wii and HTC Vive, and can easily happen to the PSVR and its Move controllers. I'll let these photos of HTC Vive casualties speak for themselves:

It happened to me once, too. I was playing Orc Hunter VR (a swordfighting game) and unbeknownst to me, my wife sat on the couch. I accidentally hit her arm and she pinched me really hard.

6. SMASHING INTO... THE FLOOR
First of all, this is very rare. But it has already happened to a few people, so I'm beginning to wonder if it's more common than I thought. Anyway, some people got so immersed in VR that they thought they could jump off virtual heights. You're probably thinking, "No way." Well, check these out: